LAFAYETTE, La. – The Sam Houston State baseball team lived to survive another day.
Sam Houston found its stride offensively, defeating Princeton 7-2 in an elimination game that was pushed back seven hours due to inclement weather at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field from the Lafayette Regional on Saturday night.
“You play like you have nothing to lose,” Hunter Hearn said. “We're going to play tomorrow just like we played to win tonight.”
Sam Houston (42-21) needs to continue winning, but will receive a much needed break. The squad will face the loser of Louisiana and Arizona, who will have to bounce back after a 1 p.m. start to face the Bearkats at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
“The good thing is, we've played both teams,” pitching coach Jay Sirianni said. “We kind of know what's in front of us. Ultimately, it will be us playing pack baseball and just playing hard and letting the game come to us. We'll see what we've got and play hard.”
After stranding a runner on second in each of the first two frames, Sam Houston capitalized in the third. Taylor Beene rocketed a leadoff double down the left field line. After moving to third on a Bryce Johnson sacrifice bunt, Clayton Harp put a 2-1 pitch to right field for a 1-0 lead.
Lance Miles followed with a single through the right side, putting runners on the corners as Harp just beat the throw at third. Then, with the hit and run on, the infield shifted over, allowing Zach Smith to shoot a first-pitch RBI single through the left side for a 2-0 advantage.
Andrew Fregia used a first pitch grounder to third plating Miles and Robie Rojas followed with a roping single to center field, Sam Houston's fifth hit of the frame, vaulting the Bearkats to a 4-0 edge. The base knock was the second of the day for Rojas and his 13th multi-hit performance this season.
“We all know we can swing the bat,” Rojas said. “We were a little off our game yesterday. We came out and played pack baseball. We came out early and were swinging the bat. Lance had a great game; Hunter had a great game and we just swung it.”
For the third time in four frames, the Bearkats put the leadoff man aboard, doing so in the fourth as Hearn lined a single up the middle. The right fielder moved to second on a Beene sacrifice bunt before plating on a Johnson dribbler up the middle.
Princeton (24-21) got on the board in the fifth, but with some help from right-handed reliever Greg Belton, the damage was contained. A one-out Tigers single placed runners on first and second before a six-pitch at bat resulted in a base knock to left, chasing starter Riley Gossett.
The right-handed freshman permitted eight hits but just two earned runs while striking out two and walking one. The Cypress product tossed 4 1-3 innings in his first NCAA Regional outing.
“Riley is a freshman and was sitting around the 100-pitch mark,” Sirianni said. “He's kind of learning how to grind through this. Give credit to Princeton, they did not expand the strike zone or chase much. They made every out tough on him.”
In relief, Miles Manning came on but struggled with the command, hitting consecutive hitters to put the second Princeton runner on the board. With a 1-2 count and one out, Belton entered, finishing off the strikeout before inducing a pop up to Miles at second.
“I'm used to closing so I'm used to coming into situations that are tougher,” Belton said. “I knew I had to come in and fill up the zone. After the first two singles, I just stepped off the mound and settled down. I knew they would fight at the plate so I needed to make better pitches.”
Sam Houston grabbed one back in the sixth as Miles recorded his third hit, taking a two-out single down the right field line, scoring Riley McKnight, who pinch hit and reached on his team-leading 14th bunt single. The Bearkats added one more in the seventh on a wild pitch.
“You can never have too much of a lead,” Hearn said. “Obviously, our goal is to win the game by as much as possible. We just kept coming and tried to get Belton some cushion.”
The Tigers put two runners aboard on consecutive singles in the seventh but Belton clamped down. The senior struck out the side, stranding two runners. He also earned the win, moving to 6-1, tossing the final 4 2-3 innings, permitting just two hits while fanning six. On the night, Sam Houston pitching stranded 11 Tigers on the basepath.
“My job is to come in and finish games,” Belton said. “I just wanted to get us a win and get us to the next day.”
The Bearkats' 12 hits matched the most second most all-time for Sam Houston in a NCAA Regional game. Sam Houston notched 12 in 2014 in a 9-2 win against Sienna, second only to the squad's 18 against Ole Miss in the 2007 Oxford Regional.
